In her first novel in more than a decade, Monica Wood (When We Were the Kennedys) introduces readers to a cast of unexpected heroes and the remarkable little boy whose death brings them together.
At 104 years of age, Ona Vitkus found a once-in-a-lifetime friend in the 11-year-old Boy Scout assigned to refill her bird feeders. He hoarded objects in groups of 10, obsessed over world records, and laughed in a peculiar yip. He also showed Ona an interest and devotion she had never known before, caused her to remember a few words of Lithuanian from her forgotten childhood, and he talked her into shooting for a world record of her own--Oldest Licensed Driver. At the story's opening, Ona has grown to look forward to the boy's visits, but this time, his father, Quinn, arrives in the boy's place.
Although certainly no rock star, Quinn Porter has made a living playing his guitar at any gig he can find, both chasing his dreams and avoiding Belle, his ex-wife two times over, and their boy, whose eccentricities left Quinn utterly baffled. Now the boy--he remains unnamed throughout--has died unexpectedly, and Quinn's detached treatment of his family becomes a source of stabbing guilt. As part of a self-imposed atonement, he decides to complete the term of the boy's service project at Ona's house. However, the sharp-tongued centenarian, with her sleight-of-hand card tricks and attachment to his strange son, takes Quinn by surprise, and soon his aversion to personal entanglements gets sidelined by his desire to see the boy through Ona's eyes. Although Ona, Belle and Quinn each lost something when the boy died--a friend, a child, a possibility--the chance to carry out one of his last missions by securing Ona's world record will bring them together and show the way to a new beginning for each of them.
Wood dishes out tragedy and charm in equal measure with an intergenerational friendship that retains its beauty despite death. Although rarely seen directly, the titular boy hovers at the edges of every scene, binding Quinn and Belle whether they like it or not, drawing Ona's secrets from her lips. Readers won't be able to resist falling for Ona, whose many years and cultivated cynicism hide a great but vulnerable heart. Wood interweaves the lives of her broken heroes until they cannot disentangle from one another, then gives each the means to become, if not fully healed, at least whole. Although most readers will find tissues often necessary while navigating the layers of this story, the conclusion will leave them smiling through their tears. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads
Shelf Talker: The sudden death of an unusual young boy brings together his grief-stricken mother, absentee father and the centenarian woman he befriended, with heartwarming results.